The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.
The traditional video delivery domain has been plagued with problems surrounding latency, buffering, and the unpredictable nature of the last mile bandwidth. These problems provide consumers with a very poor quality of viewing experience. Many different approaches that allow for adaptive bit rate delivery have been introduced in the last few years geared towards solving these issues.
For example, Adobe Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has implemented an adaptive HTTP-based streaming solution using fragmented MP4 for the Flash player. Microsoft Corporation of Seattle, Wash., has a similar solution using fragmented MP4 for its Silverlight player. Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., utilizes a segmented MPEG2-TS solution for its iPhone/iPod, iOS, and QT-X players. Each approach attempts to provide a smooth and uninterrupted viewing experience to an end-viewer.